Razvan Lucescu and his players travelled to Agrinio prepared and determined for another tough game, and they kept to their gameplan in impressive style, showing a clear head and some substance on the way to getting a crucial victory.

The Double-headed Eagle began the game with plenty of energy, pressing high up in the opposition half, producing quick recoveries of the ball, and direct transitions, but Paeitolikos were well organized defensively and did not allow the visitors many opportunities.

PAOK did find a way through in the 14th minute thanks to Narey after an assist by Oliveira, however that «goal» was ruled out for offside after a VAR check.

The visitors found some rhythm in the last 10 minutes of the first half, with Anestis stopping Oliveira, Konstantelias, A. Zivkovic and Narey on four separate occasions. However, the Portuguese forward did not make a mistake in stoppage time at the end of the opening 45 minutes.

Narey took a free-kick from the left flank, and Oliveira rose to beat the opposition defender and score with a powerful header to make it 1-0 to PAOK with the last play of the half.

In the second half, PAOK entered the first 10 minutes with the same attitude, they pressed high, stole possession repeatadly, created some opportunities to extend their lead, but despite that the home team could also have equalized. The hosts missed a big opportunity in the 57th minute with Kotarski saving brilliantly from Martenson, with Karelis unable to score into an empty net from the rebound. This was, however, practically the only chance for Panetolikos in the whole course of the game.

Despite the fact that the match had a fast tempo and the ball went up and down pitch, PAOK always looked in control, and they threatened Anesti’s goal on several occasions, mainly via Konstantelias , Narey and Oliveira. And finally in the 86th minute, PAOK found the goal that sealed the three points.

Douglas Augusto stole possession high up the pitch, played a slick one-two with Andrija Živkovic, and then cooly slotted the ball past Anestis to make it 2-0.

Lucescu’s team overtook Olympiacos in third place and reduced the gap to leaders Panathinaikos to 10 points, after the Greens’ draw at home to Ionikos on Wednesday.

Team lineups:

Panaitolikos: Anestis, Liavas, Mladen, Larson, Houhoumis, Flores, Martenson (65′ Sengelia), Kolovos, Dias (81′ Xenitidis), Karelis (81′ Joao Pedro), Dago.

PAOK: Kotarski, Sastre, Ingason, Koulierakis, Rafa Soares (88′ Vieirinha), Augusto, Schwab (88′ Dadas), Narey (81′ Murg), El Kaddouri (19′ A. Zivkovic), Konstantelias, Oliveira (88′ Brandon).